Salvaging Souls
by Songstreaker
Summary: Young children can remember events before the age of 3 until they start losing memories at 7 years old. So what if reincarnation is real, and people just forget their past lives due to childhood amnesia? What might happen if that amnesia never set in properly? Enter Naruto's adopted sister, Uzumaki Reina, a half-Uchiha prodigy who uses salvaged memories to salvage souls. Semi-SI OC
1. Chapter 1

When I died, I wasn't sure what was awaiting me, or if anything was at all. So when I found myself suspended in darkness, mute, and scarcely able to move, I wasn't exactly surprised, though I admit I was very disappointed. _What am I supposed to do in here, just float around until I lose my mind?_ I wasn't into that idea, so I tried to move around. Unfortunately, the most I could do was rock back and forth. At least it gave me something to do.

I have no idea how long I was swaying, but after some time I finally heard something. No clue what it was, but at least it was something. It was a nice noise. Who'd have thought that death came with pleasant music? Too bad it was so hard to distinguish. It sounded like there were words, but I couldn't make out any of them.

I got tired of rocking back and forth eventually, and so I gave it a rest. Looking back on it now, maybe that wasn't a good idea. This dark space I'm stuck in seems to get smaller and smaller every day. Or at least I think it's been days. And months, for that matter. The point is, I can hardly move now, the noises from outside are getting much, much louder, and I'm starting to freak out a little. Or maybe a lot.

I can feel pressure now. It's as though I'm being pushed by the walls of my dark confinement. My head is being forced through a hole, I think, but it's taking a while. The feeling is rather unpleasant.

All of a sudden, I feel my entire head pass through, and my body soon follows. A flood of noise assaults me and I try to cry out, to get death to turn down the noise or something. My attempts to protest never worked before, but for whatever reason, I think it did this time.

Problem is, I don't sound like me. I sound like a screeching baby. I cry louder when I realize this, because there's no way this is death.

This is birth.

* * *

So, besides my existential crisis of _why the hell I was reborn with previous memories intact_ and my deep humiliation of being physically incompetent _(I am a goddamned newborn)_ , I think I'm doing alright. I still can't see well, my hearing is a bit too sharp for my comfort right now, and my skin is super sensitive, but I think that's pretty normal for an infant. I can live with that for now.

What I can't live with right now, or ever, is the fact that I have no clue about what's going on around me. I want to know what my new name is, what my new parents are like, what they do for a living, etc. I think I figured out who my new parents are, but that's about it. My mom has bright red hair, green eyes, and light skin; my dad has black hair, really dark eyes, and lightly tan skin. I can't make out their faces too well, but they look like they're probably both attractive _(yay for me)_.

Listening in to the conversations around me since my birth (which was probably a few weeks ago), I've realized that the language being spoken is not English, but Japanese. I can't understand most of the conversations, but I've recognized a few words and phrases that were common in anime. It's nice to see how my nerdy hobby is coming in handy. Quite a few of the words and phrases I'm hearing now are alarming though. Not to mention the sound effects.

It almost sounds like a sword fight is happening right in front of my face, and considering the way I'm being rocked around on my mother's chest, I think I'm basically in the middle of it. My instinctual crying and squirming are probably making it harder to fight, but I can't seem to control myself. I'm just too stressed and physically incompetent.

I really hope my mother wins. I didn't choose to be reborn like this, to my knowledge, but I really don't want my life to end before it truly begins. I want to make it past 17 years this time.

After the longest few minutes of my short life, the clashing of metal stopped. I'm being carried more gently now, but I'm still rocking much more than normal. My mother was probably injured...I felt my body being lifted, and then a warmth pressed upon my forehead.

"Gomenasai, Reina."

A moment later, I felt something wash over me, suddenly lulling me into sleep.

* * *

The next time I came to, I felt ridiculously groggy, and I couldn't make sense of anything around me. The time after that, I realized that I was laying on something soft.

There were walls on all sides of me in an oval shape, so I think it was some kind of baby basket. I succumbed to sleep soon after.

I woke up in the same basket, but something is different. It feels like I'm moving. I look up, and sure enough, there is some massive blob of a person (in my eyes, of course) carrying me in my basket.

I'm suddenly aware of the gross feeling in my diaper. _I seriously just pooped myself in my sleep, didn't I?_ My disgust overwhelmed my shame, and so I start to cry, hoping that whoever is carrying me will be willing to change my poopy diaper.

The person stopped walking and stared at me. They spoke to someone else, who I hadn't even realized was there, and shortly after they were aiming a bottle of milk at my mouth. I was pretty hungry, so I accepted it, and then I realized something I hadn't really thought about earlier. _I have no way of telling people what I want from them. I have to keep crying until they guess what it is. Damn. What a pain…being a baby sucks. No bowel control, no communication abilities, no physical abilities, no anything, it feels like. All I can do is listen and try to learn things._ The woman (or so I assumed by the voice and blurry face) who was feeding me pulled back the bottle and so I took the opportunity to cry again. Hopefully she'll get it this time.

Unfortunately for me, the woman has yet to figure out what is wrong.

She and the other person, who I believe is a man, have tried giving me more milk about three times now. They seem to think they need to hold me a certain way, and that's why I won't drink it. Idiots. I'm being taken care of by idiots. Where is my mommy dearest? She did much better than this. On a more serious note, I really do hope she's alright. She's been absent ever since she apologized to me. Maybe she just dumped me onto these two?

At long last, the woman smelt the source of my repulsion. She quickly handed me off to the man, I think she called him Minato _(like the Yondaime Hokage, how cool)_ , and a moment later, she was finally changing my contaminated diaper. It was humiliating, much like everything else has been so far since my rebirth, but I was so relieved to be free of the poop that I hardly even cared. _Oh, how the mighty have fallen..._

Now that I've finished my scream-fest, the woman put me in what I'm assuming is a crib and walked off somewhere. The man peered down at me for a bit and then he left as well. Hopefully they won't go far.

* * *

Over the past few weeks I've listened to everything around me, trying to pick up hints about where I am, what my family name is, who I'm living with, how to speak Japanese, and other things of the sort. Somehow, I've come to the absolutely absurd conclusion that the only plausible explanation for everything I've seen and heard is that I was somehow reborn into the Naruto Universe. In Konoha, to be specific.

My first thought when I realized? _What the fuck?!_

I've gathered, with relative certainty, that my full name is Uzumaki Reina, that the man and woman I'm living with are Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, that Kushina is very heavily pregnant, and that I am an orphan. I'm pretty sure I've met Uchiha Mikoto, Itachi, and Sasuke a few times. I'm also fairly certain that the warm, flowing stuff I feel within me, which was absolutely not there in my previous life, must be chakra.

It seems odd to me that I'm able to feel and manipulate the chakra within me already. I'd thought that I would have to train to feel it, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Perhaps it's due to my strange rebirth. However, I'm afraid I could stunt my growth or do something really stupid if I play with it too early, so I've decided to leave it be until my chakra system is more developed and I have some more information about using chakra.

On another note, if I recall, the Kyuubi attack, my guardians' deaths, and Naruto's birth and jinchuuriki status are coming up _really fucking soon._ And there is literally _nothing_ I can do, because I'm still just a little infant who can't even understand all of the conversations going on around her.

The anticipation is really getting to me.

* * *

To my dismay and relief, when the Kyuubi attack began, Itachi was babysitting Sasuke and I. Even though I knew it was coming, there was still a part of me that refused to believe that such a horrific thing would happen and break the peace. On the other hand, I was relieved that someone dependable like Itachi was there with me. (Even though he's still a young child himself.)

Or rather, I was relieved until I was spirited away by some sketchy masked man.

I feel like I used to remember him, but I just can't recall who he might be. I've been losing a lot of my past memories, both from my previous life and from this one. I can't remember what my previous parents were like. Hell, I can't even remember the first time I met my adoptive parents.

I was quickly shaken from my thoughts, startled by my own voice. My body shook with my cries, and I was quite frankly terrified. _I'm too young to die, damnit!_ I hate being defenseless. I truly do.

I could hear the battle against the Kyuubi in the background, and I could hear the masked man and Minato speaking. I felt sudden movement and I stopped crying out to avoid biting my tongue, but it felt like it was over as soon as it began. I held my cries back the best that I could. I tried to see who was holding me, and my eyes nearly spilled over with tears. _Thank you so, so much, Minato-sama._

I felt the rush of movement and all of a sudden there was something else in Minato's arms with me. Probably Naruto. At that point, my infant body couldn't handle the stress anymore, and I lost consciousness.

I was startled awake again when a pair of hands grabbed me. Judging by the person's movement and voice, I'm almost positive that it's Minato. _Thank goodness...he's still alive._

But then I realized something. _I can still hear the Kyuubi, damnit!_

The Kyuubi has to be sealed into someone. Did Minato pick me? Me instead of Naruto? _No, there's something in his arms with me._ Maybe if I'm lucky, the building was no longer safe, and so he's just relocating me. _Hah. As if. My luck sucks._

Minato sets us down on a soft surface, which makes me realize that I'm naked. _When did that happen?_ I want to stop crying and pay better attention, but I'm too scared. My breath catches in my tiny throat for a moment. _Is he going to seal the Kyuubi into both of us? I know he split the Kyuubi's chakra when he did the seal, but he sealed one half into himself! Is he going to put that half in me, instead? Why would he do that?_ I shivered.

I felt my belly being touched, and I witnessed my guardians' final moments through my blurry infant eyes. It hurt so much. I found enough strength to raise a tiny fist up to my adoptive parents. I felt one of them hold it, and I looked at their blurry faces. I could've sworn they were smiling, but my eyes were overflowing with tears, so I'm not sure.

I heard it again, and then the pain _really_ began.

"Gomenasai, Naruto, Reina."

* * *

The next time I was coherently awake, I was in a crib with Naruto and there was nobody else within the range of my vision and hearing. My body felt different than before, and I felt like there was something foreign inside of me, right in the center of my core. My heart dropped, and I shook with residual pain. I don't know if it was physical or emotional. Probably both.

 _I'm a jinchuuriki now._

I remember how poorly Naruto was treated by the people of Konoha until he proved himself. These next few years are going to be _hell_ for Naruto and I, no getting out of it. For the time being, however, I think I'll just worry about pestering someone into feeding us and changing our diapers. They seriously stink.

* * *

Over the past three years, I've forgotten most of my past and most of the Naruto storyline. It's almost like my brain decided to speed up the process of discarding unnecessary and painful memories from both of my lifetimes. I can't remember what my name used to be, or what I looked like anymore. I still can't even remember what happened to my parents from this lifetime, though I feel like some kind of crazy tragedy is to blame for their deaths and me and my brother's misfortune. I often wonder what must have happened to make so many people hate us so much, but I can't imagine anything that could justify the way so many people treat us.

Naruto and I have had several caretakers, although I can't say that they've taken good care of us. _More like they're pathetic human beings who think we're to blame for all of their problems._ Naruto and I cried for hours every day, simply to get fed or have our diapers changed, and sometimes nobody helped until hours after our throats were too raw to make a sound.

Often times, I could _hear_ them, and eventually I became able to _see_ them, to _watch_ them curse us and neglect us. They would stand by the door most of the time, looking at us with such animosity that sometimes I was surprised they didn't make any serious attempts to kill us. They certainly tried to subtly hurt us any chance they got. Whenever they had to touch us, they made sure to leave a bruise or two, and they had no qualms about hitting us for any minor infringement. But they would only leave bruises where they wouldn't typically be seen. They _smiled_ whenever they heard a bone crack. _Such twisted people._ Hurting us was one of the few things that seemed to please them, although they were always upset after we recovered. I won't mind if my brain deletes those particular memories.

To occupy my time and distract me from the cruelty of our caretakers, I put a lot of effort into becoming a more independent child, and since Naruto was there with me constantly, he naturally joined in my pursuit. We competed with each other to reach our developmental milestones, as comical as it sounds. I usually won, though that might be expectible considering that I'm older. Somehow, nobody was all that surprised by our rapid progress, so I assume that children grow up quicker here than in my previous world. Either that or they're willing to write off our fast development to us being 'demons', as I hear them call Naruto and I sometimes, since reading and running fluently at three years old isn't exactly typical, to my knowledge.

Either way, I'm really excited today, because Oyaji (the Sandaime Hokage) is _finally_ going to take us to the library. So far, I've just been reading the books that he's brought me, which have all been children's books, so I'm really eager to try and find some more complex books that I may be able to learn from. I especially want to figure out how to use chakra and do techniques now, since I feel like my chakra coils have probably developed enough (I'm so tired of waiting). I've wanted to refer to the books to make sure I don't do something stupid and hurt myself or Naruto, but I'm tired of resisting the temptation. _I can feel it inside me, in the air, in the trees outside…I just can't catch a break. The temptation is everywhere._ Chakra books or no, I'm going to try using my chakra today.

Naruto latched on to my hand and pointed at the clock on the wall in front of us. I read the clock, and then I looked at him, taking in his bright smile and twinkling eyes. _Ah, this is also going to be the first time we leave this building. Actually, it would've been the first time we left this room if not for all the times we've snuck out._ I felt my energy level spike, and I found myself feeling every bit as excited as Naruto looked. I think my physical age has just about overridden my mental age by now.

"Nee-chan! Nee-chan! It's almost time!"

My smile widened, "I know, Naruto. Just a little longer, right? Five more minutes!"

"But Nee-chan! I can't wait! Let's escape already, dattebayo!"

If I had been the same person I was before my reincarnation, I surely would have denied Naruto's request. However, now that I'm Uzumaki Reina, I couldn't care less about being reprimanded for my mischievousness. I agreed wholeheartedly with a quick nod and a sneaky grin. _Screw these caretakers and their ridiculous cruelty! Let's get outta here!_

We walked quietly to the door, listening for our caretakers. As per usual, they didn't seem to be around, so I pulled a few pins out of my pocket and got to picking the lock. Naruto can lock pick as well, but I'm a bit faster, so I usually do it when we're in a hurry. And then just as I opened the door and we ran through the doorway…we launched right into Oyaji's legs and landed squarely on our butts.

Naruto and I shared a look of 'oh shit' and proceeded to pop up and babble about how excited we were to go outside and get some books from the library, hoping that he wouldn't get too upset about us breaking out of our room if we distracted him. Of course, distracting the Sandaime was something that we had no way of accomplishing well yet, and so he easily pinned us with a question.

"So…Reina, Naruto. Were you about to sneak out of your room again?" Oyaji's eyes had a gleam to them. I balked and considered the situation. _He wouldn't change his mind about taking us to the library because of this, would he?_ I could see that the same thought was running through Naruto's head.

"Oyaji!" Naruto began, "We were tired of waiting, dattebayo!"

I cut in with a pout, "We just wanted to get out, we weren't going to sabotage anything. We've been waiting all day, Oyaji!"

He smiled at us, "Is that so?" He turned and started walking away, "Then I suppose we'll have to go right away."

Naruto and I stared in disbelief and then we beamed at each other. _We weren't even scolded! Hot damn!_ We ran to catch up to the old man, and fell into step behind him. If only the townspeople didn't ruin it with their not-so-subtle hateful glares, it probably would have been a great memory. As it was, I really wanted to go vandalize those jerks' faces.

When we arrived at the library, Naruto and I were somewhat subdued. Being hated really takes it out of you, I must admit. But I couldn't possibly be so depressed with so many books around, so I shut out what I had just heard outside and gave Naruto a big grin.

"Last one to that bookshelf there has to fold the futons tomorrow!"

Naruto sputtered before he took off after me, "No fair, Reina! You got a head start, dattebayo!"

Oyaji was quick to reprimand us for running and yelling in the library, but it was okay. We finally left that building and I finally got some helpful books. We made it through the day with minimal damage. _No broken bones, very few bruises, and a minor hit to our mental health._ I'd consider it a success.

I read most of the basics of chakra in the time between when we returned to our room and bedtime, and now I'm going to attempt to use it. I figured I'd start with a simple exercise, like sticking a leaf to my forehead, but seeing how there are no leaves to be seen in our room, I've decided to try sticking some toys to my hands.

I grabbed my first victim, an old little ball that we have a replacement for. It won't be missed. I held it in my right hand, palm up, and tried to focus some chakra in my palm. To my surprise, the ball popped. _It felt like I barely used any chakra at all. Was it too much?_ I know that chakra control is a delicate practice, but damn. I'll have to use _really_ minuscule amounts for this, apparently. I cautiously felt my chakra and sent a teeny, tiny portion to the palm of my hand, keeping my eyes on the deflated ball. I felt it clinging to my hand this time, but I could see that it was practically getting squished into my hand. I tried to reduce the chakra flow to my palm, and I saw that the ball, while still a bit squashed, was sticking to my hand fairly decently now. Now to make it happen on the first try without the ball getting squashed and without having to try so hard. Ha.

I spent at least three hours tonight trying do the exercise correctly, and I'm happy to say that I _do_ get it…occasionally. I still screw up most of the time. Thankfully, my screw ups are quiet, so Naruto slept through the whole thing, but I'd really prefer to never screw up. I'll just have to work on it. It won't do for me to have crappy chakra control.

* * *

Now that Naruto and I are six years old, Oyaji decided that we should be moved into the orphanage. I'm not entirely certain why he decided six was the magic number, but I'm very glad that we'll have more freedom now. We'll be able to wander around Konoha practically unattended, and we'll get to explore and mess around. There's the big downside that we'll have to deal with cruel people more often, but I know that Naruto and I will make it through. We won't succumb to their hatred.

* * *

As I stared at myself in the mirror, I recalled the first time I had seen my reflection. I had been 3 years old. I didn't look how I thought I would, and it was very unnerving. I had assumed I looked like Naruto, not like...this. I have vibrant, somewhat spiky red hair, and pitch black eyes. _Do I even have pupils? Or maybe it's all pupil and I have no irises?_ My facial features and skin tone are totally different too. My eyes are more pointed at the corners, my eyelashes are more pronounced, my lips are more defined, my face is more narrow, and my skin is lighter.

I stared at my red hair for a while, and then I looked into my ebony eyes. They've been feeling irritated a lot lately. I noticed a few days ago that all of the Konoha Police, who are all Uchiha, seem to have the same black eyes as me. I can't help but wonder if I'm part Uchiha, considering that some of their features are very similar to my own, but I sort of hope that's not the case. I can't shake this terrible feeling that something catastrophic is going to happen to the Uchiha. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to avoid stress whatsoever _(more like I'll be forced to run straight at it with a kunai)_ , so I think I'll just hope I'm not half Uchiha or that I don't awaken the Sharingan until the disaster passes. Epic dojutsu be damned. I'd like to stay alive.

On another note, I've worked on my chakra control religiously since I first attempted that exercise two years ago, and I must say, my control has become pretty damn good. It's good enough that I can even use the mystical palm technique, although I really suck at it. It's been improving a lot recently, since I've been getting plenty of practice with it over the three months Naruto and I have lived in the orphanage.

Naruto has come back with bruises almost every day for the past few weeks, and sometimes he has wounds worse than that. But today...today he came back much, much worse than usual.

Naruto could barely even walk straight when he came home. As soon as I saw him, I ran up to him, wrapped an arm around his shoulders (I noted grimly that his collarbone on the far side was definitely broken), hauled him into the orphanage, and got us into our room as quickly as I could. I have been staying with him all day every once in a while to discourage the cruel brats while still allowing Naruto to find a way to overcome them on his own, but I think I'm going to start sticking with him constantly instead. This is just too much.

I helped Naruto onto his bed and stared into his pained eyes. One was swollen shut. I sighed and grabbed the first aid kit on his nightstand.

"Naruto..." I frowned and he gave me a sad smile that quickly became a grimace.

"Oi...Nee-chan?"

"Yes?" I performed the hand signs for the mystical palm technique and enveloped his collarbone in the red glow. Thank god it's working on my first try today.

Naruto looked up at me sheepishly, his one visible eye unusually dull, "We're siblings, right? The other kids...they were saying that we look too different to be siblings...that's not true, right? Nee-chan?"

My technique faltered for a moment. _Naruto…_ I refocused on controlling my chakra and looked at his face. "Naruto…you should know by now not to listen to them." I felt my features soften. I may have seen Naruto simply as the main character of a story in my past life, but living with him for six years has completely changed my perspective. Naruto is real to me now, as a precious, misunderstood boy who I love dearly. "You're my definitely my beloved Nii-san. And you know what?"

Naruto's eyes were brimming with tears and his lip was quivering. My heart melted. I couldn't help but smile, "It doesn't matter if we're siblings by blood, because we're siblings at heart. We have a bond that nobody will ever be able to break." _Ugh. That came out so sappy and sentimental._

Naruto launched himself into my arms. I mentally freaked out until I realized that somehow the majority of his injuries healed already. I could feel him shaking against me. "R-Reina! I knew they were wrong, dattebayo! Th-they just wouldn't stop saying things about you a-and when I tried to make them stop they-"

I gently squeezed Naruto against me, "Naruto…were you trying to defend me?" My chest felt heavy and my eyes stung. _This is my fault, isn't it?_

"Y-yeah!" Naruto clenched his fists in my shirt. It was soaked in tears.

"Well then…next time you go out, I guess I'll have to go with you. Maybe they can handle one Uzumaki, but there's no way they could handle two!" I offered him a hand with a wide grin.

Naruto wiped his tears and visibly brightened, "Hmm! They won't stand a chance, dattebayo!"

After Naruto was fully healed and no longer emotionally distraught, we had cup ramen for dinner, and I spent the rest of my night trying to relearn the martial arts that I can somewhat remember practicing in my previous life (as well as showing Naruto how to do any techniques he asked about). I think I had been a martial arts enthusiast or something, since I have quite a variety of techniques in my memory. The movements are coming back to me easier than I had expected, but I'll have to work on perfecting them and actually using them against people. _I need sparring partners._

 **First chapter, finished. :) Just to put it out there, I know the mystical palm technique is supposed to have a green glow.**


	2. Chapter 2

I awakened to the sound of our alarm clock. I rolled out of bed with a groan and turned off the offensive object. _6 am? Why were we even bothering to get up early today, anyways?_ I looked at Naruto, who was sitting on the side of his bed, rubbing his eyes lazily. I plopped down next to him and leaned on his shoulder.

"Oi, Nii-san?"

Naruto stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at me, "What?"

"Why were we getting up early today?

"Why? Eto…" Naruto scratched his head for a second and then hopped up on his feet, "Nee-chan! We were going to go explore this morning, dattebayo! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" He started running around, throwing on his clothes and darting into our shared bathroom.

I laughed at Naruto's sudden change in demeanor and followed suit. And once again I faced myself in the mirror. _I still can't even tell if I have pupils._ I frowned. I turned to my brother, focusing on his bright blue eyes.

"Naruto…I think I'm having a crisis." I complained.

He stopped, toothbrush still in his mouth, and turned to me, "Whash ith?"

I fixed him with a look and he finished brushing his teeth before repeating himself, "What is it?"

I frowned and glanced at my reflection. "I think I might have Uchiha eyes."

Naruto squinted at me as we walked back into our bedroom and sat on my bed. "They're the clan on the outskirts of Konoha, right? Is that a problem, dattebayo?"

I sighed. "I don't really know, but…remember how I told you about how I have some memories of a life before this one, and how I think our world was in a story I read once in that other world?"

Naruto's eyes widened and he nodded hastily. I hadn't spoken of my memories in few months. "D-Did you remember something about the Uchiha? Would it be bad if you were an Uchiha!?"

"Well…Naruto…I think we should be quiet about this, okay? I can't remember what it was, but…I feel like something really bad happened to the Uchiha clan in the story. I know that the story might not have anything to do with the real future, but…what if it _does?_ If I actually have Uchiha blood, I might be in serious danger, and that might put you in danger too." My voice quivered and I stared into my brother's disturbed eyes.

"Ah-Eto…We could tell Oyaji?" His voice was a shaky too, but then his eyes hardened and his voice became firm, "But even if you're an Uchiha and something bad happens, we'll survive it! Remember, we're going to become the strongest ninjas of all time together, dattebayo!"

I couldn't help but smile. Naruto has always had a way with words. "That's right…I can't possibly die until I see you become the Hokage, now can I?"

Naruto gave me a bashful closed-eyed smile, "That's right, dattebayo!"

I stood up and started putting my shoes on. "Well then, how about we get going, Naruto? Where do you wanna explore today?"

The blonde held his chin in thought as he walked over to his shoes. He looked up with a very familiar mischievous look while he slipped his shoes on. "Let's explore the Uchiha compound, dattebayo! Uchiha-chan~ Hehehe!"

I sputtered, "N-Naruto! Don't call me that!" I chased after my brother hastily.

We raced the rest of the way to the Uchiha compound without any incidents _(Okay, we may have nearly collided with some young ninja, but we miraculously didn't, so it's all good.)_ and stopped in front of the open gates. I turned to Naruto, "Ready?"

He nodded with an eager grin. I swear, nothing can depress this guy. He's really something. "Yeah! Let's go, dattebayo!"

The Uchiha compound is very beautiful, it seems. Naruto and I have hardly even had to focus on ignoring glares because we've been sufficiently preoccupied with sightseeing. Or we had been preoccupied, I should say. We managed to explore the entirety of the compound already, and it isn't even lunchtime yet.

And thus, we made the (probably poor) decision to explore the forest/training area around the compound to satiate our boredom and curiosity.

We ran casually through the forest side by side for quite some time. Eventually, I heard water running.

"Oi, Naruto? Do you hear water running?"

Naruto tilted his head, "Water?" He listened for a few seconds and then his face brightened with a closed-eyed smile, "Yeah! I do! Let's go find it, Nee-chan!"

Without a second of thought, Naruto bolted towards the sound, and I trailed after him. The sound grew louder every step we took. We were practically running on a cliff side at this point. "I don't think you should run so fast around here, Nii-san! You might fall off the cliff!" I warned him.

He simply turned around in defiance and stuck his tongue out at me before carrying on his merry way. And just then, merely a second later, Naruto stumbled. I rushed to steady him, but he was already back to running amuck recklessly.

"Naruto-baka!" I slapped his arm with the back of my hand, "I told you that running was a bad idea here! Do you even have a brain in that head of yours?!"

Naruto squinted his eyes at me and pointed a finger at me, "But you're running too, dattebayo!"

I deadpanned. "I'm running because you're running, baka!"

"Well-" Before he could finish his comeback, the ground beneath his feet gave out. Time almost seemed to stop. _Damnit, Naruto!_ I couldn't seem to think beyond that, but my body seemed to know what to do anyways. I jumped down after Naruto without a moment to spare, latching onto his hand with my left while I tried to clutch the crumbling rock face with my right. My hold immediately failed. I turned right and leaped for some sturdy looking rocks, kicking off with all my might. I prepared my chakra to attempt sticking to the cliff, and braced for impact. We smacked into the rock with a loud and breath-taking impact, but I managed to stick. _Thank god…but we can't stay here. We have to get on top of this cliff._ I looked down at my brother. He was hit pretty hard by some of those rocks, apparently. I could see blood running down the side of his face and peeking out of his shirt from a tear on the shoulder. His eyes were wide with shock.

My heart clenched. _He almost died just now. If I hadn't caught him..._ I looked down and shivered. _That has to be at least a few hundred meters. He couldn't survive that._

"Naruto…" I noticed that my sides really hurt. I probably bruised a rib or two when we slammed into the cliff. I kicked off way too hard. Our bodies are still too weak to easily handle an impact like that. This will probably take at least a few hours to heal on its own. "Are you okay? We have to…get up to the…the top of the cliff. Can you…get on my back, please?"

"Y-Yeah. I…I'm so…so sorry, Reina." Naruto carefully used the rocks to climb up onto my back. He wrapped his arms around my neck firmly.

I began climbing. "You're…such a pain sometimes, Nii-san, you know that?"

Naruto didn't respond. My heart almost stopped for a moment. My eyes were burning. _Damnit, Naruto! Please don't fall into a coma! What would I do without you?_ "Oi! Naruto!" _Well shit. That hurt._ I grimaced.

"Reina?" His voice was a bit groggy.

"Don't fall asleep, Naruto. You might…have a concussion. Stay awake…okay?" We were almost to the top. Just a few more feet, and I can heal him. Naruto will be okay. He has to be okay. _Come on…_

Naruto nodded against my back, "I'll…stay awake…then."

"Good," I replied. A minute or so later, we finally reached the top. I pulled us up with my exhausted arms until I got a knee up on the cliff. _I'm so weak._ I felt a rock under my knee slip, and almost fell with it, but something was holding me up all of a sudden. I looked up and saw a teenager with short black hair and black eyes. His eyelashes were incredibly long. He pulled us up on top of the cliff with a frown. _Please don't push us back down._ I pleaded mentally. When he pulled us further from the cliff side, I sighed painfully and helped Naruto off my back, sitting him up against a tree.

I immediately wove the signs for the mystical palm technique and started healing my brother. _Thank goodness it's working. But what is this stuff I'm seeing flowing inside of us? Is it...chakra? I guess it's easier to control chakra when you can see it. But if I'm seeing chakra, does that mean...have I awakened the Sharingan?_ The ninja who just helped us squatted next to me and set a first aid kit by my knee, "This will probably be useful. Although I have to ask, what were you two doing up here?"

"Yeah, thank you. We were just exploring…and then Naruto slipped. I…I jumped to save him."

Naruto's eyes widened suddenly. "Reina?" His gaze was fixed on my eyes. "What's wrong with your eyes, dattebayo?"

I frowned. _I've really awakened it, haven't I?_ The teenager beside me confirmed my fears.

"Nothing's wrong with her eyes. She's just using the Sharingan."

I bit the inside of my lip. _Shit!_ Considering the teen's appearance and our location, he's more than likely an Uchiha. After I finished healing Naruto's worst injuries, I focused on the chakra in my eyes, discovering that some new chakra path seemed to be open that led to my eyes. I tried to close the pathway, hoping that it would deactivate my new dojutsu. I no longer felt like my chakra was being drained, so I returned to healing my brother and turned to face the stranger.

"So...who are you? Do you have the Sharingan too?"

"I'm Uchiha Shisui." The black of his eyes bled into red, forming the trademark Sharingan design. He had three tomoe. "And I do have the Sharingan." His Sharingan disappeared. _That name sounds familiar._ "Who are you? I've never heard of an Uchiha with red hair before."

Naruto butted into the conversation, "Reina isn't an Uchiha! She's an Uzumaki like me, Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo!"

I sighed at my brother's declaration, and finally finished healing him. I then started healing my sore ribs. _They already healed somewhat on their own, thankfully. It would suck to keep sounding pathetic in front of a stranger._ I looked up at Shisui. "As I'm sure you've probably gathered, I'm Uzumaki Reina."

Shisui blinked. "You're an Uzumaki?"

I stood up and crossed my arms, and Naruto followed suit a moment later.

"Yeah. Uzumaki Reina." _Maybe if I'm really lucky, he'll just leave me alone, and I can just pretend that I never awakened the Sharingan._

The Uchiha teen stood up and peered at my face skeptically, "You have the Uchiha clan's Kekkei Genkai, but you aren't a member of the Uchiha clan?"

"Uh...yes?"

"Are you...an orphan?"

"Yeah..."

"Hmm."

"..."

"I think you should know that I'm obligated to tell the clan head about this. I know you may not want to join the clan, but the clan will probably want you to. Think about it, okay?"

* * *

And that is what initiated my affiliation with the Uchiha.

Merely a day after that incident, none other than Shisui himself showed up on our doorstep, urging me to come with him to meet the Uchiha clan head. I must say, Uchiha Fugaku is some hell of an authoritative man. Somehow, I wound up agreeing to be an honorary member of the clan, to commit to daily Uchiha training, _and_ to commit to Sharingan training.

After that, I told Naruto the news (which upset him somewhat) and began my training that same day. For whatever reason, the only one who regularly trains me (or at least gives me training guidelines when he has to go on long missions) is Shisui. It was a great streak of luck, I think, since he's the only one besides Naruto who seems to truly care about me.

He mostly trains me in shurikenjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu. (I was super excited when Shisui taught me the Gokakyu no jutsu for my 7th birthday.) And then sometimes, when he has free time, he lets me walk around the village with him. He even treats me to a meal or dessert every now and then.

I've done my best to continue training with Naruto as well, since I know it would hurt him (mentally and physically) if I stopped. I was always terribly exhausted at the end of the day for the first few months or so, but I'm fairly accustomed to it now.

Now, Naruto and I are about to start at the ninja academy. May the world have mercy on us and give us tolerable classmates.

* * *

The first day of class is beginning with introductions, to my dismay. Giving away my personal information is like giving away hints on how best to irritate me.

Naruto nudged me with his elbow. I looked up at him, coming out of my thoughts.

"They're starting now, 'ttebayo," he whispered.

"Ah. I see," I whispered back.

Sure enough, our sensei (Umino Iruka, if I recall) just called on the first person, an obviously shy pink haired girl. _Well, that hair color is definitely unique._

"Alright, so please tell us your name and any kind of training you've done," Iruka-sensei implored.

 _That's actually not that bad..._

She glanced at the class before fixing her eyes on our sensei, "I-I'm Haruno Sakura. I've done chakra training."

Iruka-sensei marked something on his clipboard, "Okay. Next." He stared at the brunette next to Sakura.

He had red fang marks on his cheeks. An Inuzuka.

He grinned, "My name is Inuzuka Kiba, and I've done Inuzuka clan training."

Introductions carried on for a while, and soon it was Naruto's turn.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo! I've been training with Nee-chan," he proudly declared.

A tick mark appeared on Iruka-sensei's forehead, "And what kind of training did you do?"

There was subdued laughter throughout the class. They aren't comfy enough to laugh out loud yet, it seems.

Naruto turned to me expectantly. _This brother of mine...he can be such an idiot sometimes._

I smirked in amusement, "He's done chakra, Taijutsu, Shurikenjutsu, and Ninjutsu training."

The class then unanimously decided to stare at us, for whatever stupid reason I didn't catch.

And then I caught sight of my mildly spiky red hair resting on my shoulder. It's almost reached mid-back already, so it's become much harder to miss. _Hmm. That's probably why. Our only physical similarity is the fact that we have bright hair, and even that isn't a match. I'm sure we'll get some annoying questions in the future._

I stared hard at Iruka-sensei, internally willing him to move on.

He cleared his throat soon after, reclaiming the classes attention, "Alright, next."

Aaaand they went back to staring.

I ignored them, focusing on our sensei, "I'm Uzumaki Reina. I've received Uchiha clan training."

I can already hear the gossiping whispers.

"Okay. Next," Iruka-sensei quickly interjected.

A moment later, I realized just who decided to sit next to me (besides Naruto, of course).

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke, and I've also received Uchiha clan training." He glanced at me curiously.

I've heard a little about Sasuke from Shisui and Itachi (I've seen Itachi around Shisui on multiple occasions.) He's Itachi's younger brother. I've heard that he's jealous of Itachi and idolizes him. (Itachi is super cool, so no surprise there.)

I looked back at him curiously, and he met my gaze with a bashful look. _He's staring at my eyes...maybe he wants to see my Sharingan?_ I flashed him my dojutsu and smiled shyly. _It'd be nice to have someone in this class besides Naruto who likes me._

His eyes widened in silent wonder. I subtly nudged him with my elbow and whispered, "I can train with you later, if you'd like."

He nodded eagerly. We shared a smile, and then returned our attention to the introductions.

* * *

After we finished introductions, Iruka-sensei reminded us that all of us girls will have to take Kunoichi classes in addition to our regular ninja classes, and told us that we were to begin our first lesson now, while the boys got settled into Taijutsu class. _(Why can't I just join the boys for this one?)_

And so now I find myself surrounded by girls who already seem to be avoiding me (probably because they noticed that Suzume-sensei, our Kunoichi class instructor, has been glaring at me), trying to master the art of properly picking flowers. It's quite irritating. I bet Suzume-sensei knows that she's making the others avoid me. She's probably doing it on purpose. She seems like that kind of person.

* * *

My first Kunoichi class is _finally_ over, so now I get to join the boys for taijutsu training...or so I had thought. Apparently, they choose your taijutsu partner sometimes, and today is one of those days.

And just who is my designated partner? A ridiculously timid girl with short purple-black hair and pale pupil-less eyes. Hyuga Hinata. I'll have to take care not to hurt her. She seems too gentle and delicate for this kind of thing.

"Alright. Does everyone have a partner?" Iruka-sensei asked, looking around at all of us. Nobody protested, so he continued speaking, "Then let's begin. The first thing you should know about traditional shinobi sparring is that it begins with the Seal of Confrontation," he lifted his right hand into a seal "and it ends with the Seal of Reconciliation." He demonstrated the latter with a nearby student.

"Now, I would like to see each of you perform the Seal of Confrontation with your partner," Iruka-sensei said. He walked off, stopping by each pair and fixing any incorrect seals.

When he came up to Hinata and I, we faced each other, forming the seal we were shown before. He passed me silently, but said "very good" to Hinata. _Hmpf! I'm fairly certain my seal is correct._ I guess Iruka-sensei doesn't like me either.

Several minutes later, we've had our Seal of Reconciliation checked and they showed us a few techniques to try out. Just a few attacks with corresponding blocks and evasions. Iruka-sensei told us to spar slowly and carefully to try out these moves, and that if we finish going through these moves and we both have taijutsu experience, then we can spar freely (while still being careful). He also mentioned that we could use alternative strikes or blocks if we knew any.

I turned to Hinata, settling into my stance. "Ready?"

She moved into her fighting stance, with one leg and arm stretched out in front of her, the other leg and arm pulled back, and both palms open. _Hmm. Is this is a Hyuga-style fighting stance? It looks a little weak. I thought Hyuga were supposed to have great taijutsu…maybe she isn't doing it right?_ "Y-Yes!"

I stepped forward with a slow punch, aiming for Hinata's solar plexus. She stumbled backwards, but she managed to do an open-handed block.

I pulled back, ready to block Hinata's attack. She hesitated, looking afraid. _(What is she afraid of? Me? What did I do?)_

I blinked at her, "Hinata?"

She snapped out of it _(finally)_ and slowly thrust her palm at my chest.

I sidestepped, blocking her strike and sending her off course with a twist of my forearm.

Hinata looked back at me in surprise before returning to her original position in front of me. I smiled at her. We continued going through the moves we were told to try out, finishing before most of the other groups.

I pulled back from my last attack, looking into Hinata's pale eyes. "So, Hinata, do you want to spar now?"

 _She looks so anxious, and we haven't even started. It's kind of funny._

"I-If you really w-want to, R-Reina-san," she stuttered out.

I sweat-dropped, "If you don't want to, I won't force you. We can just wait for class to finish instead."

Hinata looked very relieved. She should probably work on her taijutsu if the thought of sparring is that stressful for her.

We returned to the classroom a few minutes later (we had to wait for some slowpokes, thankfully not including Naruto), and the rest of the classes were fairly uneventful for me. Pretty much everything that was taught today was very easy to learn or something I already knew. On the other hand…my poor idiot of a brother is already having a bit of a hard time, it seems. I'm sure that _at least_ half of what we were just taught went over his head.

* * *

Naruto and I walked out of the academy with Sasuke following behind us. I stopped by the swing, the other two following suit. I turned to Naruto, "I have to go to the Uchiha compound to train now, so…do you want to just meet up in our room?"

Naruto was rubbing his hands together _(That's probably a bad sign.)_ , "Anosa, anosa! Don't you think Shisui might let me join in now? Since I'm in the academy now?"

I sighed with a smile, giving my Nii-san a little jab to the stomach. He let out an 'oof!' and squinted at me. "Sorry, Naruto, but no. I'll train with you afterwards, okay? You could use the training grounds around here while you wait, if you'd like. I can find you when I'm done."

He pouted, but agreed anyways, "Hmm. Okay." He started walking back to the academy, and turned back, waving at me with a radiant smile, "See you later, Nee-san!"

I waved and smiled back, "See you later, Nii-san."

And then I found myself facing Sasuke. _Naruto and I basically ignored him just now…oops._ I blinked at him, "Ah, sorry we were ignoring you…so…did you want to walk to the compound together?"

Sasuke smiled at me bashfully, "Yeah!"

I smiled back and took a step forward. "Let's go then."

He ran up to me and met my pace, "Reina-san?"

"Just Reina is fine. You don't mind if I call you Sasuke, right?"

Sasuke stared at me from the side. _(Does he think I can't tell he's staring? What the hell is he looking at now? My hair?)_ "Y-yeah. So...Reina? Do you want to train together today? I'm an Uchiha too, so..." _Too? I'm an Uzumaki, technically._

I slightly turned and raised an eyebrow at him, "Sure. You'll have to get Shisui's permission, though."

His eyes were looking hopeful, "What kind of training are you going to do today?"

"Hmm...Shisui said we would do some speed training today. We'll probably do some other things as well, though."

"Do you think we could practice shurikenjutsu? Nii-san showed me some really cool techniques…"

I shrugged, "Hmm. That could be fun." I felt my lips tugging up into a smile, "I was thinking I'd ask Shisui to show us some cool genjutsu. I don't know a lot of genjutsu techniques yet."

Sasuke pouted, "Genjutsu? Why genjutsu?"

I chuckled, looking over at the Uchiha, "What? You don't like genjutsu, Sasuke?"

And then a series of kunai came flying at me. I activated my Sharingan. Six of them. I intercepted them with my own and threw an extra at the hidden 'enemy.' _Shisui is such a nice sensei, ambushing me with deadly weapons every chance he gets._

I glanced at Sasuke and had to keep from laughing. His eyes were wide in fear, and he pulled out a kunai. _He probably thinks it's an actual enemy. Poor guy._

Shisui finally decided to show himself, using the Shunshin no jutsu to pop up in front of us.

Sasuke looked up at him, surprised, as he planted a hand on top of his head and ruffled his hair.

Shisui grinned at me, "I see you've met Sasuke." He turned to said boy. His eyes were twinkling. "So you want to train with Reina today, huh?"

For whatever reason, that training session was significantly harder than normal. Shisui ran us so hard that Sasuke had to stop halfway through, and then he ran me even harder for the remaining half. I also felt like there may have been another pair of eyes on me, but I had no time to spare to check for stalkers. I was so wore out that I didn't even ask Shisui to show me some new genjutsu. I need some energy leftover to train with Naruto, after all.

* * *

 **At a tea shop with Shisui and Itachi...**

"See, I _told_ you that my little Reina would beat your little brother. You saw it yourself! Reina is definitely more advanced," Shisui boasted, grinning proudly.

Itachi stared at him, "I never said that she wouldn't win...but they didn't do any shurikenjutsu."

Shisui's face hardened. His tone was deep and serious, "She will defeat Sasuke. The competition doesn't matter."

"..."

"..."

Itachi sipped his tea.

"...Sasuke will win."

Shisui smirked. _Challenge accepted._

* * *

Gokakyu no jutsu: Great Fireball technique

Shunshin no jutsu: Body Flicker technique


	3. Chapter 3

Not long after I began searching the academy training grounds for Naruto, I managed to find his chakra signature. As I got closer, I started hearing some concerning noises, and I noticed that there were three chakra signatures around Naruto I didn't recognize. I could make out some insults, thuds, and cruel laughter. I began running. _Naruto...What did you get yourself into this time?_

As I approached, I spotted Naruto on the ground, being kicked by three fairly large boys. I stopped abruptly in front of the irritating scene and crossed my arms.

"Oi, get away from my brother," I demanded.

The three buffoons balked, turning to confront me. Naruto scrambled to his feet.

The largest bully stepped towards me with a confident grin, pointing back at Naruto, "Are you talking about this guy? You look nothing alike."

One of the other bullies grabbed onto Naruto again. Naruto pulled, but he couldn't escape from the older boy's grip. _Hmm. That's no good. I'll have to show him some escape maneuvers._

My frown deepened, "You will leave, or I will make you suffer. Your choice."

"A little thing like you will make us suffer? Don't make me laugh! We're practically already Genin," The big one gloated. _They're on their last year? And yet they act like this?_

The other two snickered. _Imbeciles. I guess it can't be helped._

I allowed my Sharingan to surface, my three tomoe whirling into place. Their eyes widened immediately, and they found that they couldn't move. _Paralysis genjutsu. Perfect for teaching overconfident idiots a lesson. Now for the fun part..._ I launched myself into the largest jerk, kicking him in the gut with all of my momentum. Blood sputtered from his mouth as he plummeted to the ground. I teleported in front of Naruto, latching onto his captor's hand, and twisted it such that he was forced to release my brother. Then I roundhouse kicked him and the other cronie down on top of their leader.

I leered over them, "You shouldn't allow appearances to deceive you. Just because I'm small doesn't mean I'm weak."

I turned to Naruto, lifting him up and supporting him. I glanced back at my brother's tormentors, "You'll leave Naruto alone if you know what's good for you. I won't be so gentle if this happens again."

I walked off with Naruto, taking stock of his injuries as we went. _He's mostly just exhausted. I see a few nasty bruises._ I poked a rising welt on his cheek, and he yelped and grumbled at me. _Doesn't look like anything major. I think he's gotten better at taking hits._

We walked back home in silence. _I think he's pouting..._

* * *

While I patched him up, Naruto had this intense expression on his face. And then just as I was about to finish his last bandage...he stood up and clenched his fist, thus allowing the untied wrapping on his chest to unravel and fall onto our dirty floor...

I twitched.

"Naruto," I all but growled.

He ignored me. _This brat..._

"I've just decided," he declared, "that I'm sick of having to be rescued! I'll train like crazy and become much, much stronger, so that I never need to be rescued again, dattebayo! You'll help me train, right? Nee-chan?" Naruto beamed at me.

I tilted my head with a predatory smile, "Of course, Naruto. But first…look down."

He squinted his eyes in confusion and looked down. At the long bandage that he ruined. His eyes snapped up to mine, "A-ano, I didn't mean to, dattebayo?"

I jabbed him in the solar plexus with two knuckles, making him curl over. I crossed my arms, glaring down at him.

"I'm sick of having to heal you and wrap you up all the time, nii-san," I huffed, "Do you realize how many rolls of bandages we go through?"

Naruto sprawled out on his bed and scratched his cheek, "A lot, dattebayo?"

I sighed, walking over to our little kitchen table and setting my plain black satchel on it, "Forget about it. It hardly even matters," I laughed.

I faced the blonde as I sat and took out my homework, "Come here. We need to do our homework."

"But I don't want to," he protested weakly. _Heh. He knows I'll get him to do it either way._

I peeked up at him, "Do you still want to become the Hokage?"

He jumped up, his hands on his hips, "Of course I do, dattebayo!"

I looked back down at my small packet of papers, "Then you need to do your homework."

Naruto gave in (although he was still grumbling) and took out his own homework, settling in his chair across from me. I turned my full attention to my homework.

I didn't notice when it was given out, but I received 6 pages while Naruto appears to only have 2. And for whatever reason, they only printed on one side of each paper. _How wasteful…Did they give me duplicates?_ I glanced over the pages. _No...they're all different. And it looks like the last 4 are not from today's lessons, although the concepts seem connected. What the hell? Did they give me all of the homework for this week or something? Should I do it all? Hmm. I might as well. I'd probably just have to do the extra bits later anyways._

The homework was surprisingly easy. It was all about chakra theory that I had learned several years back. It only took around 20 minutes to finish.

I glanced at the clock. _4:15...I wonder if Naruto's finished yet? Hmm. Probably not. It's too quiet._ I looked across the table, leaning over to see my brother's progress. _Or lack thereof._ I stifled my laughter, but Naruto looked up anyways.

He was quite the pitiful sight. He was sweating profusely, his pencil was quivering over the untouched paper, and his eyes were practically bulging from his head. He had a bit of a pout since I laughed at him. _I guess he's more academically inept than I had thought..._ I pulled out my "Chakra Basics" book, opening it to the first chapter and placing it in front of Naruto.

He visibly relaxed, probably realizing that I was helping him, "What is-"

"This is our chakra book, Naruto," I interrupted, "The answers are in the first chapter."

He blinked, momentarily confused. And then realization dawned upon him.

"Ohhhh! I forgot there was a book, dattebayo! Thank you, Nee-chan!"

He got to work straight away, and with a little more guidance, he finished about ten minutes later. After that, we went to a nearby empty training field to train. We focused on escape maneuvers and chakra control, since Naruto is apparently terrible with both. I was proud to note that Naruto could stick a leaf to his forehead properly for a few seconds about half the time, and that he could usually escape from most grabs.

* * *

For the rest of the week, I paid close attention when homework was given out. I was given extra homework every day. It couldn't be accidental.

After about three weeks, considering the rate at which I was going through the first-year books, I was convinced that I was expected to graduate within the year.

* * *

The days have become very routine since Naruto and I started going to the academy.

We wake up around 8:30, having intended to wake at 8:00, rush through our morning routines in about twenty minutes, and make it to class with approximately 1-5 minutes to spare. We sit through lectures (us girls have to go to kunoichi class after the first lecture while the boys get an extra lecture on whatever Iruka-sensei chooses). Then we attend taijutsu practice, eat lunch (with me in between Sasuke and Naruto, trying in vain to make them get along), and attend the rest of our classes. After school, I walk to the Uchiha compound with Sasuke, train with Shisui (and Sasuke sometimes), and go home to do homework with Naruto. We eat dinner and train before going to bed.

Today has been no different, save for the typical variances that make life interesting (or upsetting, on occasion).

This morning I woke up in a cold sweat around 8:20, after a disturbing nightmare. In my nightmare, I saw an old man with a cross-shaped scar on his chin and bandages over one eye. I also saw a pale, black haired, yellow eyed man with purple markings lining his eyes. _(Why must I see creepy people in my dreams?)_ The two were talking, although I couldn't remember the conversation, but the most disturbing thing was that the old man had a stark white arm with multiple Sharingan embedded in it. After I finished freaking out and Naruto stopped freaking out about me freaking out, I wrote down everything I could remember from my dream, all the while hoping that it would never come to pass.

The rest of my morning and my afternoon were fairly typical, after I got over my freaky (potentially predictive) nightmare. Shisui treated me to dango and tea after training, so I returned home in high spirits...And then I looked at my homework.

Like every other day, I was given a lot more homework than Naruto. Today I received 8 one-sided pages while the rest of the class only got 2. _I really_ am _being pushed to graduate early, huh?_

I glanced up at Naruto. His face is all scrunched up in concentration _(or is it confusion?)_ and he has a death grip on his pencil. I looked back down with a solemn smile. _This poor fool will have even more difficulty if I'm not there to help him all the time. I don't want to leave him behind all on his own..._

I shook myself from my thoughts and started on my homework.

* * *

About half an hour later, I was finished. Thankfully, most of the questions only required me to regurgitate information from books I already read, and the others were essentially geometry, so it didn't take too long. I glanced at our alarm clock. _5:46._ I peered at Naruto across the table. _Looks like he's almost done...assuming he did it correctly. And considering that it's math, the chances of that are unfortunately low..._

I moved my chair to sit next to my brother, "How are you doing, nii-san?"

"I'm almost finished, dattebayo!" Naruto turned to me, pointing at the question he was solving in excitement. His eyes sparkled with hope, "You'll help me finish super, super fast, right? And then you'll train with me, right, Reina?"

I snickered in amusement, "Don't you think you rely on me a bit much, Naruto? I always help you with your homework. What will you do if I can't help you one day?"

* * *

I helped him anyways. To my surprise, he actually did most of the problems that he finished correctly. Usually I'd have to go back and help him redo the majority, so he's definitely improving. I had been starting to think that my brother was truly incompetent in math.

I stood up and stretched while Naruto shoved his things into his backpack. I checked the clock. _6:02._

I faced Naruto, pointing my thumb back at the clock, "So, are you hungry yet? It's dinner time."

Naruto looked back at the clock and then he rushed to grab his wallet and shoes. He threw a fist in the air, "Yosh! Let's have Ichiraku ramen, dattebayo!"

I raised an eyebrow, "Again? We had that yesterday, nii-san...How about that one cafe in the Uchiha compound? The one with a bunch of fish entrees?"

"But I want ramen..." Naruto whined.

I crossed my arms, "Well then...if you want ramen so bad, go ahead. I'm going to that cafe."

He gave a sharp nod and walked to the door, "See ya, nee-chan!"

"See ya," I replied.

And then it was just me.

* * *

The walk to the Uchiha compound consisted of being glared at or ignored, like usual. Honestly, it's quite aggravating.

At least the majority of the Uchiha treat me kindly. On my first visit to the compound, I had attributed the lack of noticing glares to being preoccupied, but in hindsight, I'm fairly certain only a few of the Uchiha glared at me. Maybe they knew I was half Uchiha the whole time (though that doesn't make a lot of sense). Many still don't seem to enjoy having Naruto around, but they're much nicer to him than the average Konoha citizen.

I still wonder why so many people hate Naruto and I, but we've had no luck in finding the answer.

I stopped in front of the cafe I had been thinking of, staring up at the sign. _Fire Cafe...so that was the name._ I walked in. The little bell on the door jingled, and the owner of the cafe greeted me.

"Good evening, Reina-chan. Back for more already?" The middle-aged man smiled at me from behind the counter where he and his son cook. The two of them have the same wavy dark brown hair and typical Uchiha eyes.

I smiled back, "Of course. Your food is the best, Takumi-ojisan"

A look of pride crossed his face, "Well then, what would you like to eat today?"

"Hmm. Some kind of salmon. You can cook it however you like."

Takumi nodded, "Alright. I'll have Hiraku bring it to you when it's done."

I walked over to my favorite little table...where Itachi just happened to be sitting.

I blinked. And he was still there.

He stared at me for a few moments before deciding to speak, "Would you like to sit with me, Reina? I'm waiting for my food as well."

I shook off my surprise and moved to kneel across from him, "Ah, thank you. I didn't expect to see you here, Itachi-san. What have you been up to lately?"

Itachi minutely stiffened, relaxing a moment after, "I've been working in Anbu. What about you? How do you like the academy?"

 _You don't like working in Anbu, do you? Poor Itachi._

I frowned, "The academy is pretty boring. I already know most of the things they teach, and they move through lessons really slow. It's a different story for Naruto, though. He's been having some difficulties." _And by some, I mean a lot._

Itachi's expression lightened, "I heard that you're in the same class as Sasuke."

I nodded, "Yeah, I met him on the first day of class. He's usually the only one besides Naruto who bothers to talk to me. Actually...Itachi?"

I looked down at the table, "You entered the academy early and graduated in less than a year, right?" I peeked up at the prodigy's face, "Was that your choice? Or were you forced to?"

He looked somewhat surprised, "What makes you ask that?"

"Well..." I adverted my gaze, "I'm clearly more advanced than my class, and the teachers have been giving me extra homework on content we haven't covered. I can't help but feel like I'm being pushed to graduate early..."

A moment passed before Itachi replied, "Do you not want to graduate early?"

I could feel him studying my reaction, much like Shisui taught me to do. I lifted my eyes to meet his, "I'm not sure, honestly. I know that staying in the academy will slow my progress, but graduating early would leave Naruto without anybody to help him. He would be lonely...and he might end up at the bottom of his class...do I have a choice, though?"

The Uchiha's expression seemed to soften. I could feel myself starting to relax. _This is what I like about Itachi. He's always been kind to both Naruto and I. Unlike the majority of Konoha._

"You have already shown that you are capable of graduating within the year, and many people expect you to do so. If you attempt to fail, you will upset them," he warned, "Some may even threaten you."

I crossed my arms and sighed. _It would look bad if the Uchiha clan set me up to graduate early only for me to fail._ "I had a feeling that might be the case. Hmm...what do I do? I promised Naruto that I would help him make it through the academy..."

Just before Itachi went to speak, Hiraku flipped open the side panel of the counter and walked over with our food. He set our plates and chopsticks in front of us, turning to me with a confused look, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but you could still help him when you aren't busy, couldn't you?"

I grabbed my chopsticks. "Yeah...I'm just worried that it won't be enough," I laughed, "On a scale from 1 to 10, Naruto's talent is about -2."

(Over at Ichiraku's, Naruto tries desperately to keep his snot out of his precious ramen.)

I smelt the delicious aroma of both Itachi and my fish. He got salmon too. _I wonder if it's his favorite fish too?_ I smiled, thinking of Naruto's obvious for ramen, "Well, now that I think about it, he's too stubborn to give up even if he fails. I'm sure he'll manage somehow."

Itachi and I thanked Hiraku and ate in silence for most of the meal, although I did stop to ask Itachi if I could try a piece of his fish and offer him a piece of mine. (He said yes to both, to my pleasant surprise. His salmon was just as delicious as mine.)

When we finished eating, I thanked Itachi for letting me join him for dinner, which led to our current conversation.

"Come to think of it, why didn't you eat with your family tonight, Itachi? Sasuke told me that he always eats dinner at home..." _That was his excuse to avoid eating with Naruto when I invited him to eat dinner with us a few days ago. Little rascal. He always shares his lunch with me (which I sneakily share with Naruto) but he never lets me pay him back._

Itachi stared innocently, "We typically do, but Oka-san asked me to eat here today and invite you and your brother to have dinner with us tomorrow. Shisui will be there as well."

 _Hmm. That's...odd._

My head tilted in curiosity, "Okay? What time should we be there?"

"She didn't specify," Itachi shrugged, "but you can come over with Shisui after you finish training tomorrow."

* * *

About 20 minutes later, I was sitting on my bed waiting for Naruto, wondering how the hell I'm supposed to teach him proper table manners within 24 hours.

* * *

 **At Fugaku's house, around 5 pm…**

Mikoto sat impatiently at the kitchen table. Itachi had told her that he would probably be home before 3 pm today, and so she had been sitting there waiting for him for over 2 hours. She wanted to ask him to do something for her.

Mikoto thought back on a conversation she had with Sasuke.

*Flashback*

Sasuke walked into the kitchen, looking exhausted.

He greeted her with a little "tadaima" and quietly knelt at the kitchen table.

"Okaeri," Mikoto replied, halting her dinner prep to sit with him, "How was your first day at the academy? You seem very tired."

Sasuke's face lit up, "It went great! All the lessons were easy and the teachers were nice. I even got to meet Reina today! We're in the same class."

His expression became sheepish, "Shisui let me train with her today, but I only made it through the first half of the training."

Mikoto smiled at her younger son's cuteness, "Reina is a bit... special. She's always had a lot of stamina."

"Special like Itachi?" He pouted.

"Something like that."

"Does that mean she'll graduate early too?"

Mikoto nodded solemnly, "Most likely within a year."

Her son frowned, "But…I wanted to be on her team when we graduated."

This was news to Mikoto. _I need to tell Fugaku about this…We might be able to make that happen for him. Fugaku and Hokage and his council may not mind leaving Reina as a Genin for a few years if she is training and taking missions the entire time. We could find her an apprenticeship._

She smiled, "That may be possible, but don't count on it, okay?"

Sasuke looked much happier.

Just as Mikoto was getting up to finish making dinner, Sasuke pulled out his empty bento box.

As he handed it to her, he made an unusual request, "Ano, Oka-san? Do you think I could get a bigger bento box for lunch tomorrow?"

Mikoto paused for a moment, pondering to herself. _He can't eat much more than what I gave him today, can he? Unless..._ She considered Reina's situation. _It wouldn't be surprising if she didn't bring anything for lunch. He probably wants to share with her. That's so sweet of him. Maybe he has a crush on her?_

She joyously accepted his request and continued to give him an extra-large lunch every day. She dreamt of red-haired grandchildren. Kushina had been right about Reina looking cute with Sasuke.

*Flashback end*

Mikoto believed that it was well past time to do something about Reina's situation (and Naruto's too, of course).

Reina was a symbol of Yondaime's trust in the Uchiha, and she was probably the only reason Sandaime fought to keep the Uchiha connected to Konoha. He wouldn't dare ostracize the jinchuuriki's family, even if he didn't let them claim her until she revealed her bloodline. (He had claimed he was waiting for her and Naruto to have a 'deep connection' before revealing that they aren't actually siblings. For Naruto's sake.)

Mikoto was thankful for Sandaime's efforts. Considering the circumstances of the Kyuubi incident, the Uchiha probably would have been treated horribly if he hadn't assured everyone that Yondaime trusted the Uchiha in the village, and that they should too. He even pointed out how the Uchiha evacuation guidance reduced casualties, and that they were ordered to do the evacuation. (By Danzo, according to her husband.)

However, she was displeased with his unwillingness to allow her to take Reina and Naruto into her home as her godchildren. She had requested to do so multiple times from the day of the Kyuubi incident to just yesterday, but the answer is always no. The council elders don't want the two halves of the Kyuubi in the hands of the clan head (Danzo refuses to trust them, and the other two act as his cronies), and Sandaime refuses to override them. But then when Shisui goes and requests the same thing _plus_ being their legal guardian, he's granted permission.

 _Why? Because he's in Anbu? Itachi is in Anbu too. Doesn't he count? Not to mention, aren't I much more qualified as a caregiver in general? Shisui is_ 16 years old!

She huffed just thinking about it. It didn't make sense to her when she first heard it and it probably never will. But even though she wasn't the one who got the Uzumaki pair, she was glad that they would finally have a home and that it was with someone she knew she could trust.

Just then, she heard her oldest son call out "tadaima," interrupting her thoughts.

She smiled, her mood immediately brightened by his arrival, and beckoned him to sit with her, "Okaeri, Itachi. Come here please. There's something I want you to do for me."

Itachi complied, kneeling across from her, "What is it?" He looked somewhat curious. She rarely asked him for favors.

"I assume you've heard that Shisui has been granted legal guardianship of Reina and Naruto?"

He nodded. Itachi heard _all about_ how Shisui 'convinced' the Hokage and elders (used his Kotoamatsukami) and 'saved Reina and her brother from their poor senile judgement.'

Mikoto continued, "I spoke with Shisui, and we'd like to inform Reina and Naruto over dinner tomorrow. I'd like you to invite them for me."

"Alright," Itachi moved to get up, intending to go immediately, but Mikoto stopped him.

"I was also hoping you could do a little investigating. Your father and I want to know what she thinks of the academy and I'd like to know what kinds of food Reina prefers. I've heard that she's picky with her meat. Do you think you could manage all of that?"

Itachi took a moment to plan before responding, "Yes."

He excused himself from the table and walked to the door. He looked back at his mother, "Don't bother making me dinner tonight, I'll be eating out."

* * *

Itachi left the house with a goal in mind: find out where Reina will be eating dinner tonight and get there before her. And so he found himself at her window, listening to the tapping of pencils and the occasional cry of frustration from Naruto followed by the thud and "itai!" of something being thrown at him in retaliation. It was only about 45 minutes later that he finally heard what he was spying on Reina for.

Itachi quickly made his way to the Fire Cafe, which he assumed was the cafe Reina talked about, and then he waited at the entrance. When she passed the 2-minute-walk point he was watching over with a crow, he went in. He ordered his favorite fish and sat at the table with the most strategic view of the restaurant. He would see her long before she noticed him.

She walked in about 2 minutes later and ordered, as expected. Then she made her way to his table…which was unexpected. Itachi stared at her as she stood silently in front of the table. He had been about to stand and invite her to his table, but she seemed to invite herself. Perhaps this was her favorite table?

He decided that he should invite her to sit with him as planned, "Would you like to sit with me, Reina? I'm waiting for my food as well."

The remainder of his time with Reina was filled with similar surprises (such as when she called him out for not eating with his family), but it was fairly pleasant for Itachi. Stress-free. There was no pressure to be proper, unlike with his family. He could imagine his parent's disapproving looks if they saw him plucking food off of someone else's plate like he did tonight. And yet Reina seemed to act as though sharing dinner like that was completely normal. He wondered whether that was due to a lack of etiquette knowledge or a lack of caring. Either way, Itachi couldn't help but wish he could have dinner in peace like that again.


	4. Chapter 4

I can't think of a time in my life that I've come even _remotely_ close to feeling as stupefied as I do now. Why? Because of Naruto, of course. Who else would have the gall to accuse me of refusing to eat (ramen) with him all the time so I can go on dates with Itachi? Honestly. There are so many problems with that statement that it's hard to know where to start.

 _I guess I'll start with telling him he's wrong._

I let out an exasperated sigh, preparing to begin the long process of combating my brother's insolence with reason.

I met his suspicion-laden eyes, "You're wrong, Naruto. I only refuse to eat ramen with you when I don't want to eat ramen. Tonight was the first time I ate dinner with Itachi, and I didn't even know he was going to be there. It wasn't a date."

He didn't look convinced. If anything, he looked more suspicious.

"The first time you ate _dinner_ with him, 'ttebayo? So you've eaten with him before, Nee-san?"

 _Hmm. Didn't expect him to catch that._

I crossed my arms, "I've had tea and other snacks with him a few times. Shisui was there too most of the time. None of those were a date either."

Naruto squinted at me, "Like how tonight wasn't a date? Even though it was just you and Itachi doing date stuff? He even walked you home, dattebayo."

"He was just making sure I made it home without being harassed, Naruto. It was a _friendly_ date, if you must call it that. We aren't dating. Itachi is 5 years older than me. It's very unlikely that he's interested in me like that, and even if he becomes interested, he'd wait until I'm older." _Probably should've left out that last bit._

Naruto mumbled something too quiet for me to hear, so I uncrossed my arms, using my right to jab him. He curled over with a pout.

"Don't mumble at me like that," I chided him, "What'd you say?" _I'm sure it's nothing good._

The blond jumped up, pointing an accusing finger at me, "You like him, don't you, Reina!? Well I disapprove! You're not allowed to like him, dattebayo!"

I blinked. _I don't know what I was expecting, but that definitely wasn't it. I thought he was upset about me spending less time with him? What made him so convinced that I like Itachi, anyways?_

"I don't like Itachi that way," I began, placing my hands on my hips, "but you should know that you get no say in whomever I end up liking. Though I am curious…what's your problem with Itachi?"

"He's related to Sasuke!" He huffed.

 _Really?_ I burst out laughing. _I should've known. I wonder how he'll react when I tell him we're eating dinner at Sasuke's house tomorrow?_

My idiot brother whined, "Oi! Don't laugh at me!"

I reduced my laughter to a light chuckle, "Sorry, Naruto, that was just such a stupid reason-"

"It's not stupid, dattebayo!" Naruto interrupted.

I ignored him, "I couldn't help myself. I was trying to tell you earlier, but Mikoto-san invited us to have dinner with them tomorrow night. You'll have to eat with Sasuke without starting a fight for once."

He guffawed, "No way! I'm not going, dattebayo!"

"Yes, you are," I stared at him sternly. He started breaking out in a cold sweat and nodded fervently. His blond hair looked like a yellow blur. _Am I really that intimidating?_

I smiled, "Now, how about we go do some training?"

Naruto looked up at me and shivered, as if my smile was more horrifying than my glare. _That was meant to be comforting…_

"Y-yes!" He stuttered, scrambling to get his shoes on.

I glanced in the mirror before we left. _Am I really that intimidating? I'm still pretty short, though I'm a bit taller than many of my classmates…Maybe it's my hair?_ The way my hair naturally falls, it covers a large portion of the right half of my face and casts a shadow over my face when I look down. The spikes popping up everywhere probably don't help. _Calling my hair moderately spiky was a lie. It's ridiculously spiky, and nothing I do fixes that._ I thought growing it out would weigh down the spikes, but my hair grows unevenly, and the spikes never, ever go away. My bangs never cooperate, either. The only way to keep them out of my face is to cut them or pin them back with a hair clip, but they look better long and I've yet to find a hair clip I like. _So aggravating._

* * *

When Naruto and I arrived at the nearest (thankfully unoccupied) training field, I led us to some trees with targets on them and then turned to my brother.

"How about we work on shurikenjutsu tonight? I saw you were having some trouble with it at the academy today," I suggested. _And by some trouble, I mean a lot of it. This poor fool can't understand the trajectory theory behind shurikenjutsu, so all he can do is throw blindly until he gets a feel for it._

"I wasn't having trouble with it, I was just figuring it out, dattebayo," Naruto protested weakly, already moving in front of a target with shuriken in between his fingers.

I smirked, "Mmhm. Well then, why don't you show me how well you've figured it out?"

Blue eyes hardened with stubborn determination, "Alright."

He took a (poor) stance and threw six shuriken at once. They all landed in the general direction of the target, but only two hit the target. One was on the ground in front of the tree, one was left of the tree, and the other two hit the tree far off target.

I sighed, walking over to my brother. _This is gonna take a while._

Naruto was looking down, clearly disappointed in himself. _He's been acting like this more often when he performs poorly in front of me. And then he tries to practice whatever he messed up non-stop, neglecting the other things he should practice, losing sleep, and trying to avoid his homework. I wish he would cut it out. It's becoming very annoying._

I gently jabbed him in the gut with two knuckles, "Stop moping, Nii-san."

He curled over slightly, and his gloom dissipated, "I wasn't moping, dattebayo!"

I grinned, "Sure you weren't. Now get back in your stance."

For the next few hours, I had Naruto practice getting into a good throwing stance, throwing shuriken from in between each pair of fingers one at a time, and then I had him settle in stance and throw all six in one go, like he had at the start of our training. A few hundred repetitions later, and Naruto was consistently getting six out of six on target, even if they weren't all bullseye.

I made my own improvements with more complex shurikenjutsu while Naruto did his repetitions. I'm no Itachi, but I can certainly mess with trajectory much better now.

I praised Naruto for his superb improvement while we walked home, which seemed to make his day. _I should probably do that more often. I can't remember the last time I praised him besides today…_

We returned home after 10 o'clock, so I didn't get a chance to explain table manners to Naruto. I considered waking him up to teach him now, but then I thought of a wonderful (somewhat devious) solution. _I'll get Sasuke to teach him._

* * *

An old man was standing in front of Shisui. He had a cross-shaped scar on his chin, bandages were covering his right eye, and his right arm was concealed in his clothes. _Danzo_ , I recalled. Shisui told me his name after I told him about my dream. Danzo lunged for Shisui's eyes with his only free arm, but Shisui was thankfully able to stop him, catching the elder's outstretched arm by the wrist and casting a genjutsu on him. Shisui turned to walk away, but somehow it was as though time rewound and suddenly Danzo was punching Shisui. Everything became black and white, and the outline of Danzo thrust his cruel hand to Shisui's face and brutally yanked out one of his eyes. Shisui leapt away, and color returned, but his eye was gone. He covered the empty socket with his hand, clearly in shock and pain. The bandage covering Danzo's eye unveiled, revealing a Sharingan that faded into white. _What the hell? What was that technique? This can't be real...No... There's no way...this can't happen! This is just a nightmare._

My heart dropped, and I felt tears welling up in my eyes as the scene changed. Shisui's empty eye socket was closed, with a stream of blood leaking from it. Itachi was in front of him, his expression grave. A familiar cliff leading to the Naka river was behind him. Shisui lifted his nimble fingers to his remaining eye and without hesitation, he just...pulled it out. _This is so sick. Why do I have to watch this? I can't even look away. This isn't right...It seems so real._ I came to a horrifying realization, as I watched Shisui extend his arm, offering his eye to Itachi. _This must be from the story I knew in my previous life. This is the future._ Itachi received Shisui's eye with his crows, and then Shisui backed up to the cliff's edge. _This isn't real_ , I assured myself, _it hasn't happened. I won't let it happen. It's just a nightmare. Just a nightmare..._ He allowed himself to fall to his death.

Disturbing scenes started flashing through my mind. Itachi speaking with Danzo. Itachi meeting with a familiar masked man. The masked man entering the Konoha Police force headquarters and a body splatting onto a high window. The masked man exiting the headquarters, his Sharingan shining through his mask, being attacked by a brown haired Uchiha girl in purple and murdering the girl as she pleads for Itachi to save her. Itachi slaying countless Uchiha people. Itachi standing over his parents' corpses. His Sharingan spinning into Mangekyou Sharingan.

I woke up with tears streaming down my face. I couldn't stop shivering. _I'm awake. It wasn't real. It wasn't real._ I took in a long, shaky breath, trying to force myself to calm down. Questions flooded my thoughts, and the disturbing images I just saw imprinted in my mind. _Why did Danzo do that? Why did Shisui give his other eye to Itachi and…and kill himself? Why would...what would cause Itachi do that? Who is that masked man? Is that really going to happen? What would happen to Sasuke and I? Would Itachi kill us? He couldn't kill his own brother, could he? Naruto would be left unharmed, right? What would he do if I was killed?_

 _I think I'm gonna hurl..._

Just then, I noticed Naruto's hand on my shoulder. He looked concerned. _He must have shaken me awake._

My nausea became overwhelming as I thought of my nightmare again. I used my brother's shoulder as leverage to get up and run to the bathroom. I barely reached the toilet in time.

Naruto _(my precious, precious brother)_ was by my side immediately, holding my hair away from my face as I retched out my delicious dinner. It was disgusting coming back out.

When the nausea dissipated to a manageable level, I realized that my Sharingan were activated. _I didn't even notice. Ugh. I'll never get rid of those images now._ I deactivated my dojutsu, as I backed away from the toilet and flushed it.

I turned to my brother. I opened my mouth to speak, but words escaped me for a moment. I took another deep breath, "Thank you, Nii-san. That was...the most horrific nightmare I've ever had."

"What was it about, dattebayo?" Naruto prodded carefully.

"...A massacre," I choked out, standing up and walking to my dresser, pulling out the journal I used to record my past/future memories in. I flipped to my only recent addition, yesterday's dream. The image of Shisui with two bloody, empty eye sockets lingered in my mind. _I need to tell Shisui. And I_ really _need to see him with both of his eyes in their sockets, where they belong._

I quickly wrote down the contents of my hellish nightmare, did my morning routine, and rushed to Shisui's house. Naruto followed suit.

As we power walked to the Uchiha compound _(which I was very relieved to see full of life)_ , I looked through my journal, trying to find any relevant information.

According to myself several years ago, most of what I managed to remember was from the story I knew because reminders of it were all around me and I consciously tried to remember it. Something about it being too important to forget. _How ironic that I forgot it anyways._

By the time we reached Shisui's house, I came to a few conclusions about the story, the first being that I didn't exist in the story, and my existence has already altered the future. (I wrote a disturbing bit about how I apparently saw Uchiha Izumi, who was supposed to be Itachi's girlfriend and eventually die in the Uchiha massacre, on the list of mortalities from the Kyuubi attack. My previous self wrote that I 'murdered a sweet girl and robbed Itachi of his future love.') Also, the Uchiha clan is massacred _(by Itachi and a masked man, apparently)_ , and Naruto and Sasuke were the main characters, so they both survive everything thrown at them. _(Thank goodness.)_

I abandoned my thoughts as Naruto and I walked up to Shisui's front door. _I can feel his chakra in there..._ I rapped my knuckles on the door three times in succession, and (impatiently) waited.

Shisui opened the door a few moments later, looking down at us with mild surprise. He was dressed in Anbu attire, save for the mask.

I couldn't stop staring at his eyes. _They're still there. He's still okay...he's still alive._

Fresh tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I tackled my confused sensei in a hug. _Thank goodness!_

He let out a little 'oomph' upon impact, and then I felt one arm wrap around me while the hand of the other rested on my head.

"Reina? Did something happen?" Shisui asked.

I looked up his eyes. _They're still there. You can calm down now, Reina. Be calm…_

"Danzo stole your eye and-and you gave the other one to Itachi and then he-he just…" I sputtered through my tears, gripping my precious sensei's shirt, "He k-killed everyone. All the Uchiha. And there was a-a masked man, and he killed the police force and a girl in p-purple."

I let out a shaky sigh. _It felt good to finally let that out…I'll be calm for real this time._

Shisui pushed me away gently by the shoulders, staring at my face with a serious expression.

"You had another dream?"

"A-another nightmare," I confirmed, my voice still a bit shaky.

Shisui turned to his door, beckoning Naruto and I inside. After Naruto closed the door behind him, Shisui led us to a traditional-style table.

He knelt at the table and gestured to the seats across from him, "Make yourselves comfortable."

I knelt directly in front of Shisui and Naruto sat (very improperly) to my right.

My sensei focused his attention on me, "Could you describe your nightmare to me in more detail, Reina?"

 _Hmm…my written description from earlier will probably be better than an oral description now._

"Yeah," I pulled my journal out of my ninja tools pack, flipping to the nightmare description and offering it to Shisui, "I wrote this right after I woke up and… _(hurled out the contents of my stomach?)_ …calmed down."

Shisui promptly read the horrific journal entry, looking up with troubled eyes when he finished.

Before he could speak, I shared the good news I found in my old entries, "I don't think my nightmare has to come true. I think that the future I saw is already changing."

Shisui looked very interested.

"The future is already changing?" he inquired, "Why?"

I reached over the table, opening my journal to my first journal entry, "I can't really remember anything I wrote in here up except for the two entries from today and yesterday, but according to my younger self, the world we live in was a fantasy world, a story, in my previous life."

Seeing that Shisui finished reading, I flipped to another entry, which described our world as 'the Naruto Universe' where Naruto and Sasuke are the main characters who become the strongest ninja, and Sasuke is the last living Uchiha.

Next was the depressing entry that suggests that my presence has already caused changes in the future. _(I killed Uchiha Izumi by existing, apparently.)_

Shisui looked up at me, silently confirming that I didn't have anything else to show him, before he finally voiced his thoughts, "So the pieces of the past and future you see all come from this 'story,' in which you didn't exist? Meaning that the future will naturally deviate from what you see because you exist?"

I nodded, "But I think we need to be careful, because the future could become worse instead of better."

 _Like how I caused Izumi's premature death._

"Anyways," I stared into my sensei's eyes, bracing myself for his reply, "What would cause Itachi to massacre the clan?"

At that moment, Naruto could no longer contain himself, "What?!"

 _It was bound to happen eventually. I'm actually impressed with how long he kept quiet._

Shisui and I ignored Naruto's outburst.

"The only reason I can think of is to prevent war, although that doesn't seem sensible. There are several Uchiha who are unhappy with Konoha's leaders, but I couldn't imagine them starting a war. They wouldn't have enough support. They would be more likely to defect than plan a coup d'etat," Shisui explained, "It's possible that the masked man controlled Itachi, but it isn't probable. I don't know of anyone who could control him, especially if I had just given him one of my eyes and he gained the Mangekyou Sharingan."

Naruto spoke up again, "So maybe Reina already prevented the massacre, dattebayo?"

I turned my gaze to Naruto. _Even in this dark conversation, he's still so bright and optimistic._

I felt my serious expression soften into a small smile, "I certainly hope so. We don't have any guarantee that it won't happen though. For all we know, the masked man might try to massacre everyone on his own."

"Ah," Shisui made an affirmative sound and sneakily pulled my journal under the table while I was facing Naruto, probably putting it in his ninja pouch.

 _I saw that..._

"I'll do what I can. Hopefully we'll be able to change the future for the better. In the meantime..."

He turned around, looking at the clock behind him. _8:39. That's the kitchen, isn't it? I didn't notice._

He faced us again and stood up, leading Naruto and I to do the same, "You should get going, or you'll be late to the academy."

I scoffed, "We have twenty whole minutes to get there, Shisui-sensei. We're not that slow."

Shisui grinned, raising an eyebrow with an amused look on his face, "My clock is thirteen minutes slow."

 _Well shit. I don't think he's lying._

"Eh?!" Naruto entered panic mode, "What do mean it's slow?! Why, dattebayo?!"

My chronically devious sensei evaded the question, glancing back at the clock, "Looks like you'll have to run if you want to be on time."

 _You meant for this to happen, didn't you? Always making me run..._

After bumbling for a few moments, Naruto took hold of my wrist and started bolting for the door.

Before I was dragged out the door, I yelled out to my sensei, "Stay safe! And give me back my journal later!"

 _Don't lose your eyes...and don't die._

* * *

Fortunately, Naruto and I managed to get to class on time, though we had less than a minute to spare and we lost our typical seats. Sasuke's fangirls are merciless in their pursuit. There were only a few empty seats, and none were next to each other, so Naruto and I were separated for the lecture. I sat between Ino and a wall, while Naruto sat between Kiba and Shikamaru. The lecture was a little more interesting than most, with a focus on chakra and concentration that I'll surely have to re-explain to Naruto later. At the end of the lecture, just as us girls were getting ready to leave for Kunoichi class, Iruka-sensei told us that Kunoichi class was cancelled for today, and that everyone would be trying out the exercise he explained earlier: sticking a leaf to your forehead using chakra.

And thus, here I am, standing on the grass away from the rest of the class, doing my best to keep the leaf on my forehead from falling off. _I had_ assumed _I'd be with Naruto and Sasuke, but_ no _. Naruto decided to goof off instead of practicing with me, and Sasuke is too busy practicing in his fangirl circle to lend me his company. Hmm._

My concentration was interrupted by a streak of blond hair crossing my vision. _Naruto?_ My leaf fell, and I looked up.

 _Ino? This is a first._

She smiled, "You're Reina, right?"

I nodded, naturally smiling back, "And you're Ino?"

The blonde winked, "That's me. I see you're practicing alone today. Mind if I join you?"

I blinked. _You want to practice with me? Why?_

I must have been taking too long to reply, because Ino started speaking with a disappointed tone, "Uh, it's okay if you want to practice alone...I'll just-"

"No, I'd enjoy the company," I interrupted, "Sorry I was slow to respond, I was just surprised."

I bent down, picked up my leaf, placed it back on my forehead _(on my bangs, really)_ , and began focusing chakra there.

Ino set her own leaf on her forehead and began the same exercise.

About a minute later, we were facing each other, having fallen into a competition of who can hold the leaf longer. Her leaf had yet to even waver, whereas mine almost fell three times already.

 _I really underestimated you, Ino. Your chakra control is definitely better than mine. But I don't want to lose..._

A few minutes later, a gust of wind caused my hair to sway, and my chakra connection broke. My leaf was swept up with the wind.

"Ah!" I caught it before it got away, but still…

 _I lost…_

"Yatta! I won!" Ino cheered, allowing her leaf to fall.

I picked it up and held it out to her, "Hmm. You have great chakra control. How often do you practice?"

 _How did you get so good at this? Am I just untalented with it? I've practiced a lot…_

She recomposed herself and took her leaf back, pride evident on her face, "Thanks! I practice it with my dad every day after school, but I started when I was six."

"Really?" I didn't conceal my surprise. _I don't think you're lying. I guess I'm just untalented with this._

I sniggered, thinking of my own progress, "I started when I was almost four and I've practiced almost every day, and yet this is all I can manage. You've got me beat."

Ino smiled earnestly, "I'm glad that I can finally win at _something_. I was starting to think it was impossible."

I stared at her, "Finally? We've never competed before, have we?"

Pale cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment, "N-no, we haven't. Aha...ha..."

 _Heh. That fake laugh is so bad it's comical._

"So you've been secretly competing from a distance?" I teased.

"Well...yeah," she admitted, crossing her arms with a pout, "You're kinda hard to approach."

I blinked. _Am I?_

"Why?"

Ino gave me a look like 'you should know,' but answered anyways, "You're so good at everything, it's kind of intimidating. And you're always with Naruto and Sasuke."

"I'm always alone in Kunoichi class," I pointed out. _How come you never approached me then? Because of our instructor?_

She uncrossed her arms, her expression displaying guilt, "I tried to approach you a few times, but...Suzume-sensei-"

I cut her off, "You're afraid she'll hate you too? I get it. Being hated sucks."

"That's not it!" Ino insisted, "She always stops me and makes me go do something else! I couldn't care less what that witch thinks! I hate her!"

Ino got all worked up about our Kunoichi class instructor, catching the attention of our nearby classmates. She couldn't care less.

I smirked. _I misjudged you, Ino. You're pretty cool._

"Would you mind if I go to you in Kunoichi class, then?" I asked.

She nodded, still not over her anger, "That would be great, but I'm sure Suzume-sensei will try to get in the way again."

My smirk grew into a grin, "No problem. I'll make sure she fails."

 _I wonder what I could do to her? Genjutsu? Ruin her hair? I'd prefer if it can't get me in trouble, though. Hmm._

Ino grinned back, "Great," she held her leaf to her forehead again, "Wanna get back to practicing now?"

* * *

We practiced (competed) until Iruka-sensei called everyone in for taijutsu and shurikenjutsu class. I lost twice more during that time, but I felt like my control improved. It lasted long enough for Ino's leaf to shake a little on the last round.

After the typical physical conditioning at the start of taijutsu class, Iruka-sensei allowed us to choose our sparring partners. Naruto rashly challenged Sasuke, and my other typical go-to partners (Kiba and Shino) had partners, so I looked to Ino, hoping she would be willing to spar with me.

Ino was staring at me with nervous, determined eyes as I walked to her. _Looks like she's willing. Hmm. Time to even the scoreboard. There's no way I'll lose in taijutsu._

I underestimated Ino again.

I thoroughly defeated her, as I expected, but her taijutsu was better than I anticipated. If I weren't as fast as I am, she would've landed several hits.

I also noticed that Ino's shurikenjutsu was superior to the other girls' (excluding me, of course) and most of the boys. She'll probably be the number one kunoichi when I'm gone.

With that aside, school is done for the day, and it is time for me to pin off Naruto's etiquette training on Sasuke and train with Shisui.

Naruto walked on my left and Sasuke on my right as we left the academy for the Uchiha compound.

I looked over at my brother, "So, Naruto. You need to learn since manners before dinner tonight."

"Not really," he grumbled.

Sasuke's interest was piqued, "What for?"

I smirked, moving my eyes to the Uchiha. _He doesn't know? This is going perfectly._

"Nobody told you? Your mom invited Shisui, Naruto, and I to have dinner at your house tonight."

"Really?" Sasuke appeared pleasantly surprised for a moment, but then he glanced at Naruto and grimaced, "Can't you leave the dobe behind?"

"Yeah, I don't wanna go, dattebayo!" Naruto provided his assent. _He didn't notice the insult in there?_

I scoffed, "No, you imbeciles."

I faced Naruto, "Whatever Mikoto-san wants to talk about involves you, me, and Shisui," I turned to Sasuke, "She wouldn't have invited all of us for no reason. It's probably something important."

 _They're pouting..._

"Anyways, Sasuke, I don't have time to teach Naruto etiquette today, so I'd appreciate if you could educate him for me."

Both boys protested immediately, ironically in sync, "No way!"

I grinned mischievously at the Uchiha, "But Sasuke, wouldn't you like to learn some jutsu from Fugaku-sama next week?"

His dark eyes lit up, silently cuing me to continue.

I complied, "Shisui will be gone for three or four days next week, and he told me that Fugaku-sama will teach me some new jutsu to practice while he's gone. If you teach Naruto some manners, I'll do my best to convince him to let you join in."

With that and a threat to throw out all my brother's ramen, the boys conceded to my will. They would play sensei and pupil just outside of the training area while Shisui trained me.

* * *

Shisui seems to be in a great mood today, so of course his first activity for me is _capturing_ him, of all things.

He grinned gleefully, "As for the rules...neither of us can leave this training area and elemental ninjutsu must be countered rather than avoided. All techniques and weapons are allowed. We'll stop when you've captured me, when you can no longer continue, or when an hour has passed."

 _Well shit._

"Why do I have to counter your elemental jutsu?" I complained, "You've only taught me fire release, and I'm sure you can do more than that."

 _Do you plan to use water against me?_

Shisui tilted his head, "Ah. I can do fire, lightning, and wind release. I can't do water release very well, so you don't need to worry about that. As for why you have to counter..."

He nodded in the direction of Naruto and Sasuke, "I'm sure you can figure it out."

I blinked, "Oh..." _They could get hit by stray fire balls or something if we don't counter...That would be bad..._

Shisui pulled out a timer, twisted it, and set it on a log next to him.

"Training starts..." he hesitated for a moment, activating his Sharingan. I did the same.

"Now."

And then he was gone. I didn't even get my hand into the tiger seal before he shunshined away. Nevertheless, I quickly sensed for the general direction of his chakra and shunshined after him.

Moments later, as I probably should have anticipated, I set off a trip wire trap that I should have avoided.

 _Well shit._

A flurry of shuriken and kunai came flying at me from all angles. I deftly countered six of the weapons with my own, escaping through the opening I created.

Of course, since Shisui was inevitably watching, an enormous fireball was immediately in position to sideline me. The radiating heat began enveloping my left side, lightly singeing my fire-resistant clothes, but I shunshined out of the way just in time to spare myself the burns. I drew in a deep breath while flying through hand seals, and then launched my best fireball at Shisui's gigantic one.

In spite of my best efforts, the opposing fireball nearly engulfed my own, leaving me short of breath. Shisui chose that moment to throw a trio of kunai at me and take off again.

I dodged and made chase.

Next was genjutsu, which Shisui goes all out with now. I can just about handle it, unlike his all-out taijutsu and ninjutsu. _(That would destroy me)._

He started with a genjutsu making it look like I caught him in the shuriken and net trap I set. I broke the genjutsu immediately, knowing he would never be caught by that, and cast my own.

I created the illusion that I remained in front of Shisui while I shunshined behind him. My illusory self performed the Great Fireball jutsu in front of him while I arched several wired kunai around him from behind, aiming to capture him.

The kunai curved around him perfectly, the wires intertwining into a makeshift net. I pulled the wires taut, enclosing my sensei within them.

But that was merely a genjutsu. I could feel the subtle disturbance in my chakra, and my genjutsu was broken just as my kunai left my hands. I dispelled Shisui's genjutsu hastily and ascertained the situation.

Shisui was gone, and I could see he put up at least five explosive tags as he fled. _I don't want to circle around...I'll just have to move fast enough that they don't get me._

I lifted my right hand into the tiger seal, briefly taking stock of the explosives and suspicious areas in my way, and then I calculated the best path with my Sharingan.

 _Alright. I got this. I'll avoid the tags and any hidden surprises. No problem._

I shunshined through the explosives as quickly and carefully as I could manage. Two flash steps in, and the explosions were already beginning. After two more, I very narrowly avoided another trip wire trap, and by the sixth flash step, I successfully escaped the bombardment.

I glanced back at the smoking path behind me, sighing in relief. _That was a little extreme. That must've been 30 or so tags, plus at least one trip wire. I'm surprised I made it through that unharmed. Hmm. I still need to find Shisui again._

I tried to locate my sensei's chakra, but I could sense it in several areas. _What the hell? I'm not under genjutsu...what is he doing?_

As I approached the general area of his chakra, I saw about 15 Shisui clones (and possibly also Shisui?) staring at me with a smug expression. All at once, they shunshined around me, encircling me before I had the chance to do anything, and charged at me. _I won't stand a chance in taijutsu. In that case…_

I breezed through the hand signs for the strongest ninjutsu I know-Katon: Goka Mekkyaku, the Majestic Destroyer Flame. It's definitely my favorite so far, though I have to be careful where I use it. I took in a swift, deep breath, and released it with a spin, creating a beautiful destructive spiral that I would absolutely hate to have to counter. The many Shisuis backed up as quick as possible, but at least a third dispelled, having been caught point-blank by my jutsu. Their hand signs indicated that fireballs were incoming, so I took the opportunity to escape my center stage, jumping with all my might towards the trees.

I landed on a conspicuous tree branch on the edge of the tree line, so I moved to better cover where I could watch my sensei's clones deal with my creative mess and keep an eye out for him. I'm sure he'll come attack or provoke me any time now.

 _A little backwards, considering that I'm supposed to capture him, but I'm almost certain the real purpose of this exercise is to test my current abilities. If he wanted it to be an exercise on finding and capturing him, he would hide and evade me. Instead, he's been attacking me and putting me through traps without damaging me. I've already demonstrated my ninjutsu, genjutsu, shurikenjutsu, and speed, so he'll probably try to force me into a taijutsu match again…Which I won't go with if it's stupidly disadvantageous like last time._

As expected, Shisui had his clones counter my massive flame while he chased me down. All six of him. _Him plus five clones? Six clones? Does it even matter?_ One of them threw four shuriken at me, trying to get me to move. I deflected the projectiles with my own shuriken and maintained my position. _It does matter. The real deal should pack a better punch._

It turned out that it didn't matter. I made several successful taijutsu evasions using ninjutsu and genjutsu, but Shisui eventually forced me into a taijutsu bout with six of him. Every time I seemingly landed a hit, my attack went right through him, but every time he landed a hit, it _really landed_. The force was the same, no matter which Shisui hit me.

When the timer rang, I was relieved to be done with my one-sided beating _(Shisui is just way too fast)_ , but I was also disappointed by my performance.

 _He was most likely holding back with taijutsu just like he does with ninjutsu, so he probably thought I should be able to handle that level of taijutsu by now. And yet I couldn't even land a single hit..._

Shisui just smiled and dispelled his clones, beckoning me to follow him back to the still-ringing timer.

"This thing is so annoying," he remarked with amusement, turning it off as soon as he reached it.

"So..." my sensei turned to me with a big grin, patting my shoulder enthusiastically, "Congratulations, Reina! You're as skilled as a Chunin! Maybe even a Special Jonin!"

"You really think so?" My disappointment faded away, replaced by pleasant surprise, "I thought my taijutsu was too subpar."

Shisui laughed at me, "You think your taijutsu is subpar? Honestly?"

"Well, yeah!" I huffed, "You wipe the floor with me whenever we practice taijutsu!"

My sensei stifled his laughter and regarded me seriously, "Your taijutsu is about Chunin level. You're much more advanced than your academy student peers. Don't start thinking you're subpar just because a _Jonin level_ ninja can wipe the floor with you."

"Come here," he sat down and patted the ground next to him. He pulled out my journal, a scroll, a container of ink, and a brush.

As I sat down beside him, he handed me my journal and opened the scroll. The scroll had a table and an unusual octagon on it. Lightly drawn lines and smaller octagons extended from the center of the octagon to each point. Each point had a label that matched those on the table-ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, intelligence, strength, speed, stamina, and hand seals. The table also had a 'total' label. None of the numbers were filled in, but my name was written at the top of the paper.

 _Hmm. So he was testing my skills to determine my stats? Who wants my stats?_

Shisui began writing in my stats, and I activated my sharingan to memorize them. The resulting table was as follows:

* * *

Ninjutsu: 3

Taijutsu: 2.5

Genjutsu: 4.5

Intelligence: 4

Strength: 1

Speed: 4

Stamina: 4

Hand Seals: 4

Total: 27

* * *

 _Okay? These numbers tell me nothing..._

Then Shisui started placing points on the...gridded octagon?

There are 5 octagons, and he placed a dot on the ninjutsu line three octagons from the center... _Hmm. The same is true for the other points. So then 5 must be the maximum score for each category, and 40 is the maximum total. But what does a 5 look like?_

Shisui broke me from my thoughts, "You're definitely a prodigy, Reina. Your stats are better than a lot of Special Jonin."

He sounded very proud, and his expression certainly matched his tone. His eyes were practically sparkling.

"Really?" _That's...kind of surprising._

"How can you tell from these numbers?" I inquired, "I get that 5 is the maximum score for each category and 40 is the maximum total, but..."

I trailed off, expecting an explanation. My sensei did not disappoint.

"Ah, you haven't been introduced to statistics yet," he noted, pulling out another scroll. This one was blank.

He began writing on the scroll, speaking as he went, "The lowest score you can get in any category is 0.5, and the highest is 5. A score of 0.5 means that the person is completely inept, while a 5 indicates exceptional ability."

He lifted his brush from the paper and turned it towards me. The points were written out from 0.5 to 5 as such:

* * *

0.5-1 = Below Average

2 = Decent

2.5-3 = Average

3.5-4 = Above Average

4.5-5 = Excellent

* * *

He turned it back to himself, adding something else, "As for the totals…"

A few moments later, Shisui handed me the open scroll, "As you can see, your total is above the average for Special Jonin."

A table was added:

* * *

Average Total Stats by Rank:

Genin: ~7

Chunin: ~22

Special Jonin: ~26

Jonin: ~30

* * *

 _Why do they all have the approximation squiggle? Hmm. Well, according to this, my skills are indeed of Special Jonin level. That's…I don't know…pleasing? Except that Shisui rated my strength as below average…Come to think of it, I wonder what Shisui's stats are?_

I looked over, peering into my sensei's obsidian eyes, "So what are your stats, Shisui-sensei?"

He blinked at me, barely concealing his amusement, "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Uh, yeah?" I retorted, suddenly more curious. _Judging by that, they must be really high…_

Shisui smirked, "My total is…"

He hesitated teasingly, enjoying my curious anticipation.

"…34.5."

 _What?_

I could feel the competitive envy welling up inside of me, in spite of my common sense telling me that Shisui should, by all means, have a much higher score than me. _He's 4 and a half points above the average Jonin! Damn! I have a such long way to go…Can I even get that skilled?_

Shisui rested a hand on my shoulder, "I had a feeling you'd be discouraged," he spoke earnestly, "You need to work on that, Reina. You're a super rare prodigy, whether you believe it or not. Your potential is extraordinary. If you keep training as hard as you can, you will catch up to me one day. I wouldn't be surprised if you surpass me."

"You think I could surpass you?" I felt warm with happiness. _I really should work on my self-deprecating pessimistic thoughts. Happy thoughts are much more pleasant._

He nodded with a smile, moving to pack his things, "Ah. We should pack up and get the boys now. It's about time that we should get going."

"Alright." I complied immediately. _Hmm. I'm hungry. I wonder how Naruto's 'Etiquette Training' went?_

* * *

 **At Ino's house with Inoichi and Ino at the dinner table, waiting for dinner…**

Inoichi was somewhat concerned when his daughter first talked to him (ranted) about Uzumaki Reina.

It was after her second day at the academy. She had complained that the redhead was more talented than her, but her main complaint was that she couldn't approach her. She had intended to introduce herself and maybe ask Reina for some tips during Kunoichi class, but the Kunoichi class instructor intercepted her and asked her to carry a stack of papers to the headmaster's office. Ino was still unfamiliar with the academy layout, so she got lost on her way back and was scolded for taking too long to return to class. She told him that she hopes that sensei gets fired, probably hoping that he would do something about it. He didn't.

Inoichi wanted his daughter to have friends, but he had honestly hoped that she would pick someone else. He didn't mean to try and lead Ino away from the prodigious jinchuuriki, but even though he knew the girl was not to blame for the Kyuubi attack, a part of him was still reluctant to encourage his little girl to befriend such a potentially dangerous child. Of course, with Ino's stubborn, defiant nature, if he wanted her away from Reina, he should have enthusiastically endorsed her pursuit of friendship.

And now, it was too late to stop her. Ino had just joyously recounted her day at the academy to him, without prompting, and of course, after countless errands for her 'witch' sensei, Ino had finally made Reina her friend.

'At this point,' he decided, 'I should probably stop worrying about the risks so much and support my daughter's choice. After all, some good has already come out of this development.'

Inoichi buried his concerns, allowing an honest smile to spread on his face. He looked into his precious daughter's excited eyes, "I'm glad you finally made friends with Reina-chan. You're free to invite her over whenever you want."

Ino smiled back, clearly relieved that her father wasn't upset with her. She had thought that he didn't like Reina, like many of their instructors, although she never understood why. She can't be that bad if the Hokage lets her attend class like everyone else, right?

"Thank you, Oto-san!" She replied.

Ino turned in her seat to peer into the kitchen. She could smell the delicious dinner brewing, and it looked like her mom was probably almost done.

She turned back to Inoichi with a hopeful, determined look, "Can we practice some more after dinner?"

Inoichi nodded gladly, "Of course, Ino. In fact…if you do well tonight, I may be able to teach you your first Yamanaka clan jutsu."

He was very pleased with his daughter's work ethic as of recent. She started training twice as much, twice as hard after meeting Reina. With the way she had been training before, he would have waited at least a year or so to introduce his daughter to their clan jutsu, but he was confident that she could handle it now. Her mindset had changed for the better, thanks to Uzumaki Reina. Inoichi was very grateful.

* * *

College is a soul-sucker. And a money drainer. Anyways, I got most of the stats stuff from the 'Naruto Official Stats Guide' on and Google Images. I didn't fabricate it myself.


End file.
